Maestro Charles Schmitter(1907-2002)
Maestro Charles Schmitter was mentor and coach to GLSC founder and instructor Kim Rahl and GLSC owner and lead instructor Daniel Rahl.
"I can’t remember when I wasn’t interested in swords. My first memories are of Puss and Boots... I’d have given anything to have a sword like that. Then, when I was 14, I saw the original Three Musketeers and I was hooked."
Maestro Charles R. Schmitter has continued to be "hooked" on fencing throughout his lifetime and has helped thousands of young people to follow in his foot steps. Schmitter, who was born in 1907, still promotes the sport and tries to educate young people about the joys of fencing. He and his wife, "Ruth" Elizabeth Schmitter, have donated thousands of dollars in rare fencing books to the Michigan State University Library over the last few years. Those books have become a part of one of the largest libraries of fencing in the country and are one of MSU’s prized "bragging" literary collections. In addition to books on fencing, Schmitter has collected swords his entire life. He may well have owned a sword like the one Puss and Boots brandished to capture Schmitter’s heart as a youth. Schmitter is known as an authority on the subject of antique swords and blades and also has one of the largest collections of antique swords in the country. A portion of his collection was on loan to the MSU museum and museum experts have sought his advice regarding museum pieces they are researching.
While enrolled at the University of Detroit (U of D) in 1929, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in German, Schmitter learned to fence. "A friend of mine named Joe Keunz wanted to start a fencing team," Schmitter recalled. "I’d always wanted to learn to fence. When Joe started that team you couldn’t have held me back."
The practice conditions for the team were poor. The team used a concrete-floored smoking room as their practice area. Showers weren’t even available so they had to practice in tennis shoes and street clothes. "My heel hurt so bad from lunging on that floor that I finally learned to land properly. I used to practice at home in our basement among the ashes from our coal burning furnace. I didn’t have a coach. I had to figure everything out for myself."
Although U of D started the season with a 40 member team, by the end of the season it had dwindled to three members. "I remember Joe begging me to stay out for the team or we wouldn’t have had one," Schmitter said. "I almost quit because I was knocking my brains out and I wasn’t getting anywhere. Nobody was there to tell me that you regress before you get better. That’s when you have to stick with it or you are through." However, Kuenz convinced Schmitter to stick with the fencing team. He won his first bout against a senior who had fenced for four years. "That guy couldn’t wait to beat me," Schmitter chuckled. "He just kept jumping onto my blade.
At the season’s end in March, the Spartan Fencing Club held a State Championship meet. Even though he had fenced less than a year, Schmitter decided to compete in the meet. "I competed in Novice foil. My mother thought I would lose because she said everyone else was better than I was, but I told her I want to find out how much better and ended up winning the Novice Division." After his victory, Schmitter decided to compete in epee and sabre tournaments which determined club champions at the Detroit Fencing Club in 1929. "I placed in all three weapons--epee, foil and sabre--my first year," he recollected.
In his 10 years of amateur competition, Schmitter placed in the top three in at least one weapon in every tournament he competed in with the exception of two Nationals Tournaments and one Midwest Tournament. He retired from amateur status as Michigan’s undefeated foil and sabre Champion in 1938. However, in 1955, Schmitter returned to fencing competition and fenced in the Midwest Masters.
Until he met his wife, Ruth Elizabeth, in 1933, Schmitter was mostly employed as a musician for various bands. He married Ruth in 1938 and realized he couldn’t keep traveling to fencing meets and support a family as well. Schmitter was then working at Ditzler Color Company in Detroit as a lab technician. He offered to help coach MSU’s fencing team on a part time basis and ended up coaching two nights a week through the five month season for both 1938-39 and 1939-40.
MSU offered Schmitter a position as full-time coach in September of 1940. He was offered $1,800 a year to coach the MSU Fencing Team full time. "That was a raise of $100 a year over what I was making at Ditzler and I only had to work 10 months a year," Schmitter grinned. "I don’t mind paid vacations anymore than anyone else†I took the job!" Shortly after getting the job at MSU Schmitter realized that his fencing technique was not as solid as he would like it to be. "I could win with what I was doing but it wasn’t really a teachable style. I realized that I needed to improve my own technique if I was going to continue teaching." Shortly after that Schmitter began studying with Maestro Giorgio Santelli. "He helped me with my form and taught me a teachable style of fencing," Schmitter said. "He did it as a "professional courtesy, can you imagine that? We became very close friends. He was a good man."
Although he did not hold the required degree in Physical Education, his abilities in many sports including tennis, badminton, handball and boxing, qualified him for the position which included teaching Health and Physical Education classes. While teaching and coaching, Schmitter completed his bachelor degree in HPR in 1951. "If I were applying for that job now without a diploma, I’d never be accepted," he said. "I was just lucky then because I’d done other things besides teaching myself to fence."
Schmitter took a six month sabbatical leave from teaching and coaching at MSU in 1956 and obtained his Maestro Di Scherma (Fencing Master’s Diploma) at the prestigious National Fencing Academy in Naples, Italy. For three months Master Giuseppe Mangiarotti gave Schmitter hour-long lessons six days a week. "My legs never quit aching for three months," Schmitter said with a grimace. "I was 49 when I finally earned my diploma. I don’t know if I’d have gotten it that soon if it hadn’t been for my wife’s urging."
Schmitter returned from Italy and continued coaching and teaching at MSU. He applied for and received his diploma in 1976. Schmitter remained MSU’s coach until his retirement in 1983.
When asked why he thinks he was able to excel in fencing without any early coaching, Schmitter said, "I knew enough of mechanics, geometry and physics to figure things out. Fencing is a very logical sport. A fencer is actually just a collection of educated reflexes. Your arm is attached to your head and your legs just do what they are supposed to automatically. Anyone can be a fencer if he has average intelligence and build † as long as he is willing to learn and to work hard."
Schmitter considered hard work to be one element that was essential to his success. He also believes that it is equally important that he never stopped learning. That is reflected in his ability to speak Italian, French, Russian and German. He plays tuba in both the Mason Orchestra and the Mackinaw City Band. Though rheumatoid arthritis has slowed him down a bit in the past few years he still enjoys working with young people. "Hopefully my experiences can benefit others. I want people to come to me if they have a problem, and maybe we can work it out together. My goal in life is to do as much for as many people as I can. I don’t hate anyone†not even my enemies, life’s just too short for that."
Related Links
Charles and Ruth Schmitter Fencing Collection
at Michigan State University Special Collections
USFA Hall of Fame
at Fencing on Fairfield Museum of Fencing
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